Students are our children, says SC; refuses to stay NEET Ordinance

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed doubt over validity of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) that provided states to hold their own entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses for the current academic year. The

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed doubt over validity of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) that provided states to hold their own entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses for the current academic year. The court, however, refused to interfere with its operation.

A bench headed by Justice AR Dave reacted sharply to the to the contention of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that it should not take the Ordinance to its "ego" as it pertains to the welfare of students who have prepared for months for various state medical examinations.

"Those states which have held examinations before the Ordinance and after our order, is patently bad. It will be a total mess. Students' future are at stake and their interests need to be considered. They are our children," the bench, also comprising Justices AK Goel and Shiva Kirti Singh, said.

The court, which cast "doubt" on the Ordinance, said it was not staying it because the "interest of lakhs of students were involved" and any interference at this stage would create "chaos" as more than 50 per cent states have already held their separate tests.

"It is disturbing and not proper for the government to bring an Ordinance allowing states to hold their own tests despite our orders... Prima facie, we find that the validity of the ordinance is in doubt," the bench said while agreeing to expedite the hearing in the matter.

It also dismissed the contention for centralised counselling of successful candidates of various entrance tests, saying "50 per cent states have conducted their tests."

Rohatgi strongly opposed the challenge to the Ordinance, saying there was "nothing wrong" with it and the government was "well within its plenary right" to come up with it.

The AG said that by the time the apex court delivered its

May 9 order, some states had already held entrance tests for admissions to medical colleges.

"National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) is a regulation framed under the MCI Act. When this court restored NEET, it became operational as a subordinate legislation. Government did not scrap or abolish it. Plenary legislation calls it Combined Entrance Examination (CEE).

"By the Ordinace, parent law has altered the subordinate law. The judgement of this court just said that follow NEET, but it did not bar states from holding exams. It is very easy to say this becomes operative today but it is very difficult for students who have been preparing for months.

"When the plea seeking quashing of May 24 ordinance came for hearing, this court refused to grant any relief. Let's keep that aside. Much water has flown since them. The petitioner is neither a student, nor does he represent students. Whose interest is this," Rohatgi asked.

The bench expressed displeasure over AG's submission and said "we are discussing about students. This is patently bad. How can you do that? ... 17 states have already taken their entrance exams and 4 states conducted their exams just after our verdict and before the ordinance. This is not in good taste, this is not proper. The difficulty will be to the students."

Senior advocate Amarendra Sharan, appearing for NGO Sankalp, sought quashing of the ordinance, saying it was a "violation" of the Supreme Court order by the government.

"It is not about an individual. It is about institution (Supreme Court). If a judgement has been passed, the basis of the judgement has to be seen. The ordinance defers NEET by one year. Final order passed by this court must be obeyed by the government. In substance, the ordinance stays the SC order by one year. The ordinance has created a lot of confusion," he said.